Kiln car



J. T. ROBSON Aug. 16, 1955 KILN CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17, 1953 INVENTOR. JA M55 7". H0550 BY m1. $064M ATTOQA/Ey5.

6, 1955 J. T. ROBSON 2 2,715,370

KILN CAR Filed March 17, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JAMES T ROB5ON oi luxfwb A TTORA/EXE- United States v Patent 6 KILN CAR James T. Robson, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to Ferro Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 17, 1953, Serial No. 342,810

2 Claims. (Cl'. 104-48) The present invention is a continuation-in-part of my patent application Serial Number 208,739, January 31, 1951, now abandoned.

This invention relates as indicated to kiln plants and has more particular reference to improvements in transfer cars and working area in and about brick plants or other such shops having a plurality of kinls necessitating the transfer of kiln cars.

Transfer cars as now used for moving or shifting kiln cars from one kiln to another or from one point to another in a plant are adapted to travel upon tracks disposed below normal floor level. As the tracks of the transfer car have to be substantially level with the tracks which it serves the construction therefore involves deep pits the width of the transfer car. It therefore can be readily seen that travel from one side of the plant to the other would be practically impossible unless special bridges or the transfer cars themselves were used for crossing.

The principal object of the present invention, there fore, is to render the area served by transfer cars as available to pedestrian or wheel traflic as any other area, or as available as though no transfer car occupied the area.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the transfer device of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section through 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view partially in section of the transfer device of Fig. l with the handrail at the rear of the device removed.

Referring more particularly to the drawings transfer car 1 consists essentially of stringers 2 and sills 3. Sills 3 lie on opposite sides of axles 5 and terminally extend beyond wheels 4. Cross-bars 16 are fixed parallel to the stringers 2 between the end pairs of the sills 3 and carry the bearing members 17 in which the axles 5 are journalled to support the wheels 4 with the wheel tread level approximately coplanar with the head of the T-shaped stringers 2. The stringers 2 are arranged at right angles to sills 3 and comprise T-shaped structural members with the head abutting against the lower faces of sills 3 adjacent the ends of the latter and the stem of the T extends downwardly. In the preferred form of my invention I use ordinary flanged wheels on and adjacent the ends of each axle, however, it is entirely within the contemplation of this invention to use other types and/or combinations of wheels. Wheels 4 travel on transfer car rails 6 2,715,370 Patented Aug. 16, 1955 and the stem of stringers 2 project downwardly into beamway 9. It will therefore be readily seen that the only openings in the floor comprise a plurality of narrow parallel channels or beamways 9. The openings of beamways 9 are protected as by channels 7 and 8. Channels 7 are held in place as by anchor means 11 andserve to protect the top edge of the beamways from chipping. Channel 8 serves to protect the edge'of the beamway and at the same time serves to prevent rails 6 from spreading outwardly due to the weight of transfer'car- 1.

Attention is directed to the stringers 2 which because they arethe main supporting members of the transfer car must of necessity be of considerable depth. As shown in the accompanying drawings the stringers 2 extend downwardly substantially the entire depth of the beamways. The use of T-shaped stringers 2 offers the advantage of making it possible to remove or replace transfer car 1 any place along the trackway. Heretofore, in prior art transfer cars, the stringers have been l-beams and it always was necessary to make special openings along the trackway to place or remove the transfer cars. If the special openings were not used then it was necessary to build the transfer car pits in such a manner so as to permit the transfer car to be placed in position at the end of the trackway which latter method is difiicult and time consuming. While above it was stated that the stringers 2 must of necessity be of substantial depth it is to be noted that the T-shaped members require less depth than the prior art I-beams. The web of the T member can be shorter since it is possible to use a thicker section.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention the level of the transfer car tracks 6 is slightly below the level of the kiln tracks 10 abutting on the transfer car path. As shown in Fig. 3 the area 13 adjacent the transfer car path is slightly inclined and the kiln tracks 10 extending from kilns 16 are substantially in the same plane as transverse tracks 14 on the transfer car.

Locking means 15 is provided to lock the wheels of the kiln car so that it will not roll while transfer car 1 is in motion.

From the foregoing description and drawings it can now be readily seen that I have provided a suitable surface at substantially normal level over the transfer car area including the path of the transfer car of such character as to permit pedestrian or wheel traflic over the transfer area.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A transfer car of the character described comprising a pair of parallel, T-shaped stringers and two parallel sills fixed at their ends to the ends of said stringers forming a rectangular frame, the head of the T abutting against the lower faces of said sills and the stem of the T extending downwardly, an additional sill fixed upon said stringers near each end of said frame spaced apart from the end sill and parallel thereto, an axle disposed between each of the resulting two pairs of spaced sills, cross-bars extending between said spaced sills parallel to said stringers, said cross-bars carrying hearings in which said axles are journaled, the ends of said axles being located between said stringers and said cross-bars, a wheel carried upon each end of said axles inwardly of said stringers and outwardly of said bearings with the wheel tread level approximately coplanar with the heads of said T-shaped stringers, and transverse kiln-car tracks carried between said stringers and upon the upper surface thereof disposed 3 between said inner sills, the ends of saidkiln-car tracks terminating just beyond the outer edge of said stringers. 2. A transfer car of the character described comprising a pair of parallel stringers each having a horizontal web portion, and a dependingvertical portion and two parallel sills fixed at their ends to the ends of saidzstringers forming a rectangular frame, the top of the horizontal web portion of each stringer abuttingagainst the lower faces of said sills with said stringer yerticalweb portions extending therebelow, an axle disposed at each end of said rectangular frame inwardly of, said sills and parallel thereto, a, wheel carried upon each end of said axles inwardly of said stringers ,with .the ,wheeltread level approximately coplanar withtthe, horizontal web portions of said stringers, and transverse kiln-car tracks carried 15 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 500,929 Moxham July 4, 1893 m 835,015 Edinger Nov. 6,1906 1,550,142 Bennington Aug.'18,1925

1,842,411 Ladd 1 Jan. 26, 1932 I? I FOREIGN PATENTS 387,810 Germany L Jan. 7, 1924 873,853 France Apr. 13, 1942 

